Those who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are claiming discrimination. However, their exercise of their so-called right is putting the rest of us in danger. We don’t want adults who are not vaccinated next to us on planes, at concerts and gatherings, or even in the grocery store. We also don’t want the vaccine deniers catching and spreading the virus.

Every person who contracts COVID-19 is at risk of becoming an incubator for a new variant of the virus. We know that four of the variants are already in Colorado (as of this writing), and they are all more contagious and dangerous than the original virus. Even those who have had COVID-19 are not immune to the newest arrival, the Brazilian variant.

Viruses can and will continue to mutate until we shut them down by getting vaccinated.

Remember polio and measles? Remember small pox? Most people under 50 don’t remember them because we shut down the spread with vaccines developed from scientific research. Some strains of the coronavirus have been around for years. Thanks to all the years scientists have studied coronaviruses, this time we got a vaccine in record time. Much of the vaccine work was completed even before COVID-19 was identified.

So did scientists skimp on their research? No. They simply were in the coronavirus vaccine labs years before COVID-19 made an appearance. Hence, the research went more quickly than previous vaccines. Thank you, science.

The vaccine is free and effective. Getting vaccinated does not risk your freedom. Refusing the vaccine risks your life and mine, too.

Frances Jenkins

Steamboat Springs